Clubhouse Magazine Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Colorado Springs, Colo. – Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse Magazine is celebrating its 25th anniversary this February, and looking back at how it has helped children thrive in Christ all this time.

From summer campaigns designed to help kids become more globally aware of the needs children in other countries face, to an innovative Web-to-print format of delivering content for its readers, Clubhouse has always looked for new ways to get its readers involved in their communities and help others.

“Our goal is more than to provide a fun magazine for kids that develops literacy skills – although we do that, too.” said Leon Wirth, executive director of parenting and youth at Focus on the Family. “We also want to bring families together, helping parents to nurture a Christian worldview in their young readers and to help soften their hearts to God’s voice and how they can help others. We are so grateful for the 25 years God’s been using our magazine to do just that.”

Clubhouse, the most honored children’s publication by the Evangelical Press Association, was just an eight-page magazine when it first rolled off the presses in February 1987. Gasoline cost 89 cents a gallon, most folks used cassette tapes, and cell phones cost about $4,000 each.

Much has changed. Today, Clubhouse is a 32-page magazine which has reached children in more than 120 countries. More than 20 million Clubhouse magazines have been printed over the years, which if laid end-to-end, would stretch more than 3,000 miles. Clubhouse has even been translated into four different languages.

The biggest change, however, is in the hearts and minds of the children who read Clubhouse. For example, Clubhouse readers helped meet the needs of orphans and children in the Africa through a reading campaign that helped raise nearly $90,000 for a ministry building construction project in Rwanda last summer.

The men and women who put Clubhouse together every month know firsthand the impact the magazine can have on the young hearts of their readers because some were former readers themselves. As they help develop the Clubhouse website and help edit the magazine, these Clubhouse devotees have no problem keeping today’s readers on their minds.

“We’ll continue to adapt to changing times to be able to meet our readers where they are at,” said Wirth. “But during the next 25 years, we’ll still be using Clubhouse’s fun articles, summer campaigns and stories to point children to Jesus Christ.”

To coordinate media interviews, please call Nina Coppola at 719-531-3386, or email her at Nina.Coppola@fotf.org.

About Focus on the FamilyFocus on the Family, which reaches about 238 million people in 130 countries, is a global Christian ministry that helps families thrive. We provide help and resources for strengthening believers in their faith and sharing the gospel; building resilient marriages that reflect God’s design; equipping parents to raise their children with a thriving faith; advocating for the preborn, orphaned and life at every stage; and engaging the culture through a biblical worldview. Visit Focus online at www.focusonthefamily.com/ and on Facebook at facebook.com/focusonthefamily. You can follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/focusfamily.